Pakistan heads back to the polls, senior politician killed
A bloody campaign season in which about 150 people were killed nationwide ended with the death of Zara Shahid Hussain, a top politician in Pakistan's Tehrik-i-Insaf party. On Sunday, some constituencies accused of vote-rigging voted again.
Pakistani army soldiers take positions near a polling station during a re-polling for general elections, in Karachi, Pakistan, Sunday. Pakistan is holding a repeat election in an upmarket area of the southern city of Karachi that was plagued with allegations of vote-rigging.
Fareed Khan/AP
Islamabad
An upmarket constituency of听's violence-plagued city of听听voted again under tight security on Sunday, a day after gunmen killed a senior politician from a reformist party in the district and a week after general elections.
It was not immediately clear who killed听, a leading member of the听听( PTI) party of former cricket star听.
Imran blamed the killing on the Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) party, which has a stranglehold on the city. MQM leaders denied responsibility, condemned the killing and demanded a retraction from Imran.
The attack in the upscale Defence area, the family neighbourhood of assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, capped a bloody election campaign in which around 150 people were killed nationwide.
Last Saturday's elections handed a landslide victory to opposition leader听听and his听听Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).
But results from a handful of constituencies across the country are still uncertain amid accusations of vote-rigging. There is re-polling in a few others where security issues prevented voting.
Last week's election gave the MQM 18 of 19 national assembly seats in听,听's biggest city. The constituency, known blandly as NA-250, where Sunday's re-poll is taking place is thought to be a stronghold of the PTI.
The re-vote took place at 43 of 180 polling stations. The MQM, which wanted re-polling of the whole constituency, boycotted the vote.
Whatever the result, Sharif's national landslide win is assured. But as听's financial centre,听听generates around half of government revenues and stability in the city is key to stability of the whole country.
For the first time, each ballot box was guarded by a ranger and a soldier inside and outside the booths to ensure security and no violence had been reported by early afternoon.
CONTROVERSIAL PARTY
Police said that two gunmen shot Hussain on Saturday outside her home in Defence.
"Her death has sent shockwaves across the rank and file of the party," Khan said in a statement.
"I hold (MQM leader)听听directly responsible for the murder as he openly threatened PTI workers and leaders through public broadcasts," Imran, recovering in hospital from a fall during campaigning, added in a tweet.
"I also hold the听听responsible as I had warned them about British citizen听听after his open threats."
听is accused of murder in听听and leads his party remotely from exile in England. His party is designated a terrorist organization by听, a charge it strongly denies.
In recent days he gave a speech which many Pakistanis felt was an incitement to attack political rivals.听听are investigating whether or not it constituted a hate speech.
The MQM, a secular party, is locked in a battle with various rival contenders for influence in听, including'蝉听听movement, which has sought to gain a foothold in various districts on the outskirts of the city in recent years.
Imran's election campaign electrified many Pakistanis, pushing the PTI from a marginal party to听's third largest.
, the nuclear-armed country's key port, is home to 18 million people. It typically sees about a dozen murders a day, a combination of political killings, attacks by the听听听and sectarian militant groups, and street crime.